What is a Game Studies and Design minor?

Earning a minor in Game Studies and Design (GSD) from the University of Montevallo offers students a unique opportunity to academically explore the interdisciplinary concepts involved in game studies and design from a liberal-arts perspective. Designed to complement any major on campus, students choosing this minor will be able to select classes from a wide variety of disciplines including English, Marketing, Mathematics, Philosophy and Sociology; all of which play pivotal roles in the design and study of games. In the GSD core classes, students will explore the historical and cultural impact of different genres of games including video games, board games, card games, role-playing games and other varieties of games. Game Studies courses analyze a range of games, both traditional and digital. Our Game Design courses uniquely specialize in creating non-digital games while exploring the fundamentals of game design that apply to any medium.

What majors complement this minor?

All of them!

Fine Arts

Students studying in the College of Fine Arts may combine their area of study with a Game Studies and Design minor and have employment opportunities including:

Graphic artist

Animator

Associate art director or art director

Voice acting/musical scores

Business

Students studying in the Michael E. Stephens College of Business may combine their area of study with a Game Studies and Design minor and have employment opportunities including:

Advertising manager

Accounting, Finance, Management and Marketing support

Arts and Sciences

Students studying in the College of Arts & Sciences may combine their area of study with a Game Studies and Design minor and have employment opportunities including:

Game designer

Script writer

Level designer

Related areas: History, Creative Writing, Mathematics, and Psychology

Education

While most education majors won’t be looking to the gaming industry for jobs, they could apply principles from the GSD minor in their future classrooms. In the minor, education students could design games for their future classrooms and learn more about game-based learning pedagogy.

Related area: Kinesiology

Is the Game Studies and Design minor right for you?

A minor in Game Studies and Design gives students who enjoy gaming the opportunity to study what they love by making a minor of their hobby. In the process, they substantially increase their marketability, which could lead to more employment options in areas that interest them upon completion of their degrees.